OTHER FAILED TRIP HELD LESSON, BALLOONIST SAYS.Byline: Shonda Novak Scripps-McClatchy Western Service Aviator Dick Rutan Richard Glenn “Dick” Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is an aviator who piloted the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop with the assistance of Jeana Yeager. He was born in Loma Linda, California, where he gained an interest in flight at a young age. wishes he had paid more attention when a Chicago pilot warned about a possible problem with his own balloon. Kevin Uliassi's around-the-world flight attempt in a similarly constructed balloon failed New Year's Eve. ``In retrospect, we should have looked into his failure more - and I should have bet on the Broncos,'' said Global Hilton flight Hilton Flight is a horse ridden in international show jumping by Richard Spooner.
``I wish I would have investigated it more, but we didn't,'' said Rutan, 59. ``We were too anxious to fly. It's our fault for failure to thoroughly investigate that before we flew.'' Rutan and co-pilot Dave Melton mel·ton n. A heavy woolen cloth used chiefly for making overcoats and hunting jackets. [After Melton Mowbray, an urban district of central England.] were flying the same type of combination helium/hot-air balloon as Uliassi, a Chicago architect and veteran balloonist. The crews are among several teams vying to be the first to circle the globe in a balloon, a feat that is considered aviation's last milestone. It would win $1 million from sponsors. The Global Hilton and Uliassi's balloon, J. Renee, were made by the same company, Cameron Balloons Cameron Balloons is a company established in 1971 in Bristol, England by Don Cameron to manufacture hot air balloons. Cameron had previously, with others, constructed ten hot air balloons under the name Omega. Ltd. of Bristol, England. Each experienced a similar failure caused by a ruptured helium helium (hē`lēəm), gaseous chemical element; symbol He; at. no. 2; at. wt. 4.0026; m.p. below −272°C; at 26 atmospheres pressure; b.p. −268.934°C; at 1 atmosphere pressure; density 0. chamber. Uliassi landed his balloon three hours after a New Year's Eve takeoff from Loves Park, Ill. Rutan and Melton were forced to parachute from their balloon about two hours after lifting off from Albuquerque's Balloon Fiesta Balloon Fiesta may refer to the following balloon festivals:
Rutan said that when Uliassi called the Global Hilton crew shortly after his aborted a·bort v. a·bort·ed, a·bort·ing, a·borts v.intr. 1. To give birth prematurely or before term; miscarry. 2. To cease growth before full development or maturation. 3. flight, ``he was trying to tell everybody that he did not fly it wrong, but we thought he did and we were wrong.'' He called them about four times in the days after his accident to talk about what might have gone wrong, he said. ``I thought he flew the balloon improperly, and now I'm sure that how we flew it had nothing to do with either of our accidents,'' Rutan said. Instead, the Global Hilton team suspects a design flaw in the helium cell. ``It was a structural problem with the balloon,'' Rutan said. ``Specifically what that is we'll have to find out. ``We do know it's not pilot error and it had nothing to do with how we operated it,'' Rutan said, ``so in a sense they (the balloons) both failed identically.'' Uliassi said he also believes there ``appears to be a problem with the design or manufacture of the balloon.'' The head of the company that made both balloons said he's eager to find out what went wrong. Don Cameron, managing director of Cameron Balloons Ltd., said that he might go to Albuquerque later this week as the investigation continues into the Global Hilton flight by the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control , the National Transportation and Safety Board and the Global Hilton team. An NTSB NTSB abbr. National Transportation Safety Board investigator began examining the remnants of the balloon Tuesday. James Struhsaker said the agency has up to six months to determine the cause of the rupture in the balloon's helium cell. Cameron said his company is the world's largest maker of hot-air balloons. He said his company pioneered the use of helium/hot-air balloons for long-distance flights. ``We're desperately sad that this expedition has come to this end, and if it's a design fault we need to find it out very quickly,'' Cameron said. One reason, he said, is that another balloon in the global flight competition - the Breitling Orbiter Breitling Orbiter was the name of three different Rozière Balloons made by Cameron Balloons to circumnavigate the globe. The first two balloons never made it, while the third made a successful attempt in 1999. 2 that's waiting to take off in Switzerland - also was made by Cameron Balloons in the same series as the J. Renee and Global Hilton. Cameron said his company has made most of the estimated 25 helium/hot-air balloons in existence, ``and all of them have been very successful.'' Cameron declined to speculate on what might have gone wrong. |
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